"Wait, then who's in the room across the hall then?" I asked.
"I don't know, but I'm pretty sure it's not Birch." Ashton said.
The blood. The look on her face when she attacked me. The growl.
"A mutt! She's a mutt, of some sort, like a human mutt I think.." I said.
"That would make sense." Ashton agreed with me.
"Then what do we do with her?" I ask.
"We can't kill it.. I say we just keep it in a cell, feed it, house it, clean it, take care of it, but don't give it any more than that." Ashton sighed.
"Okay then. I'm pretty sure the men in the white room heard that. I think I'm gonna go get someone to fetch Finnick, Mags, Johanna, and... anyone else?"
"Nah, that sounds good." Ashton smiled.
"Cool. I'll be right back." I smiled, I walked into the white room, with the windows.
"Already on it." Someone said, before I even could get out a word.
"Thank you." I said gratefully.
"Your welcome." The boy said before getting out of the room.
I stepped back in and sat back in the chair. Ashton's eyes were still open, and he was looking around the room.
"I see you've gotten to the district 7 building." Ashton sighed.
"Yeah, I had some trouble with it, there aren't many records of large buildings in any of the outlying districts." I sighed.
"Well District 7 is very green, and there's lot's of wood. And a lot of old buildings from way before the war, nestled in the forest. All of the old buildings have tons of wood paneling and accents. The wood is almost always dark brown, and we have lot's of Ivy. It grows everywhere. And window seats, all of the old houses have window seats." Ashton sighed.
"Thanks." I smiled. Finnick stepped in.
"Ashton!" He smiled, walking over to hug him.
"Hey Finnick." Ashton said, and accepted Finnick's hug awkwardly, since he couldn't really move. They all talked for a minute and I got distracted, I finally realized why Finnick kept a bouncy ball with him, this was boring.
"So they capitol people are coming today, and they're going to look at you when they get here. We got District 12, so they're all here. Tomorrow we're getting eleven. Your friend Charlie here took a boy fro 12, Gale, under her wing. And she got almost 80% of the eligible district 12 citizens to start building the dome. So now, if it starts working, by the time we get 10, we should have enough people to start building it. And Charlie's leaving for the victory tour in a month and a half, and I signed you up for Com lessons from our one and only Beetee." Finnick said in a rush.
"Wow. A lot has happened." Ashton said amazed.
"You've been out for a while." I shrugged, and Ashton sighed.
"So, eleven, you guys are getting them tomorrow?" Ashton asked.
"Yeah." Finnick grinned.
"Sleeping Beauty! You're awake!" Johanna laughed walking in, with Mags following her.
"Hey Johanna, Mags." Ashton smiled nodding at them.
"Hello Ashton." Mags smiled lovingly.
It was nice, all of us sitting and talking. I kind of wanted Beetee and Wiress here, just so that we could have a united moment. But we were still missing Birch, I thought bitterly.
Eventually it was lunch, and Ashton stared at me in surprise when Finnick made me get up.
"You go to every meal now?" Ashton asked amazed.
"Yep, on Finnick's orders. I'm taking care of myself" I laughed.
"I think it's a great idea." Ashton smiled.
"Why thank you. It was really hard in the beginning, and we were never ever on time thanks to her." Finnick said shaking his head.
"I couldn't just drop everything and go!" I exclaimed indignantly.
Someone actually brought us all lunch, and we spent the rest of the Afternoon with Ashton. Gale never came though, so I figured he was working in the office like he did sometimes. I decided that before dinner, I needed to go check up on him. Make sure everything was alright.
"Hey guys, I'm gonna go check on Gale, and then store some of my work. If any of you want you can come, but it's going to be pretty boring." I said getting out of the chair.
No one wanted to come with me, which was understandable since I wasn't doing anything exciting. I went up to the work room, but Gale wasn't there. Maybe it was later then I thought. I stored all of my plans, and when I looked at the clock I realized it was only 4:30. Gale was always here at 4:30. We normally discussed any questions he had, and I went over his plans, and made sure everything was alright.
I went down to his room, and knocked, no one answered. I then went to Katniss's room, figuring she might now where he was.
"Just go away!" She angrily spat, when I knocked. She couldn't see me, so I figured that it probably wasn't directed at me.
"Um, hey Katniss.. It's me, Charlie." I said, on the other side of the door.
I had to jump out of the way when the door swung open, as it narrowly missed my face.
"What do you want?" She bit out.
"Well, have you seen Gale?" I asked.
"Yes! I have seen Gale!" She yelled frustratedly.
"Um, could you tell me where you saw Gale?" I asked her.
"I saw him in Jail because he punched Peeta!" She cried before slamming the door. I stood awkwardly in front of the door, there were a couple people looking at us.
"Don't worry! I'll get him out!" I yelled so she could hear me.
"I don't care!" She yelled back.
I turned around, and took a deep breath.
"Next stop, jail." I muttered to myself.
I walked down to the elevator, and pressed the 100th floor. I hadn't actually visited the jail yet, but I knew it was bound to happen at 1 point, I'm friends with victors, and they aren't the most level-headed people.
When I walked out of the elevator, it wasn't like I expected at all. There was a lobby with chairs, and a desk. The only person in the room, was the young girl behind the desk.
"Hello who are you here to see?" The girl asked, her long brown hair swishing as she asked the question.
"Gale.. Hawthorne." I said. She raised an eyebrow at my request.
"You're Charlie right?" She asked, and I was taken aback by the fact that she knew who I was.
"How do you know who I am?" I asked her.
"Oh, It's just, I was there when you gave that speech, and it's common knowledge that you escaped the games." She said. "It's just weird that you are coming to visit Gale, I mean, he's just some guy from 12." She sighed.
"Oh, well I am teaching him architecture, and he didn't show up today, and I find out that he punched some kid named Peeta. So, I'm kinda just a little confused." I told her.
"Yeah, apparently Peeta likes Katniss, and everyone knows that Gale has liked Katniss since they were kids, so it's all very dramatic." She told me.
"Wow. It's like a capitol television show." I laughed, and she nodded.
"Just wondering, how long is he going to be in here?" I asked her.
"Well you can always get him out, I'm sure. Just ask Mr. Crow." She said.
"Who?" I asked confused.
"Mr. Crow, he's the only District 13 survivor, he leads this district." She told me.
"Oh. Yeah, Grandpa." I said nodding.
"But if I don't how long does he have?" I asked her.
"A week." She responded.
"Am I allowed to give him materials to work?" I asked her.
"Yeah, I guess." She shrugged. "But aren't you going to bail him out?" She asked.
"No. He deserves, punching people isn't okay." I told her.
"He's the first room on the right, warning, he might be a little mad." She laughed handing me the key. I nodded, and thanked her.
I stepped into the hallway and unlocked the cell, making sure to lock it again, and I put the key in my back pocket. Hopefully Gale won't resort to that though.
"Hey Gale. I heard you punched Peeta." I laughed.
"It's just so stupid! I always thought that Katniss knew that I liked her, but then at lunch Peeta came along and was all like, "Hi Katniss." and she blushed, like she actually liked him. And they were flirting, and then I just got mad, and I punched him. I gave him a bloody nose too." Gale sighed.
"You shouldn't resort to violence." I told him shaking my head.
"Are you bailing me out?" He asked hopefully.
"Nah. You need to pay the price, no one's above the law." I told him.
"What! I'm sorry okay! Please just get me out of here." Gale begged.
"Nope. I told you before, I'm not pulling strings. Although I will try and get you Finnick's bouncy ball, and some paper to write an apology to Peeta, I'll even give you some of your designs to finish." I told Gale. He rolled his eyes.
"Oh! And I'll make you one for Katniss too, she was pretty pissed off at you." I told him, smiling. He huffed, and I waved goodbye.
"Thanks. I'll be back in a minute with a couple things." I told the girl, handing her the key from my back pocket.
"Bye!" She smiled and waved. I ran into the elevator and mashed the buttons impatiently.
I grabbed some lined paper, and a pencil, then I stopped back on the sixth floor. I went into Ashton's room, he was sleeping but everyone was still gathered around his room quietly talking.
"Hey Finnick can I have your bouncy ball please?" I begged him, he laughd quietly at my question.
"Sure, come with me to go get it." He said, and we both walked into the elevator.
"So how's Gale?" Finnick asked.
"He's in jail, he punched Peeta." I told Finnick, who didn't look surprised.
"Are you bailing him out?" Finnick asked.
"Nope." I told him, when the elevator door opened we walked into Finnick's room and it turns out, he has many bouncy balls. Like over twenty.
"Chose your pick." He said.
"Can I have two?" I begged him.
"Fine, but they have to be small." Finnick told me. I grabbed a yellow one, and a blue one.
"Where'd you get these from?" I asked him.
"I found a toy closet, I've been giving all of the little kids from 12 the toys. They're really cute." He smiled, and I nodded.
I bounced the ball as I walked into the elevator.
"Want to come to jail with me?" I asked Finnick.
"Sure, I don't have anything better to do." Finnick smiled.
I bounced the ball against the elevator. I hit the wall a bit to hard, and had to duck as it came back at my face. Finnick rolled his eyes at my antics.
"What? It's fun." I smiled at him.
When the doors opened, I smiled and waved to the girl at the desk.
"Here's the key" She smiled, and handed it to me. I walked to Gale's cell, and unlocked it. He was staring at the ceiling.
"Do you think she's gonna hate me?" Gale asked.
'who?' Finnick mouthed to me.
'Katniss' I mouthed back right before I answered Gale's question.
"Not if you write her an apology." I told him I threw a bouncy ball at his chest, which startled him, and he fell off the bench.
"Hi Finnick." He said as he looked at the two of us. He got up and stretched.
"I think I'm gonna go crazy." Gale hummed.
"Well have fun. I'll be back tomorrow at noon to pick up your letters and deliver them." I told Gale before walking out.
Ashton fell into a normal sleep schedule, and I began working in his hospital room, though I had to leave to go to the Com room, or get some blue prints from the work room sometimes. I also had to teach some people how to make glass panels in the lab room once.
13 got even louder when district 11 came. And the glass dome project began. Now we have designated meal times, since we can't fit everyone in one meal time. Thankfully I am allowed to go to which ever one I want, because they're divided between 12 and 11.
Gale wrote a letter to Katniss, and one to Peeta. I didn't read either, but I delivered both, and then gave Gale some of his architecture projects. I sat with him and reviewed them every night too.
I even learned a little bit more of how District 13 worked. I got Brooke, who is works in the schedule area to put me on dish's every other day after lunch . I got to know a few of the people who came here from 12 and 11 which is really nice.
I learned more about the struggle from the outlying districts. Which puts fuel to my fire, I wanted rights and freedom's, but I wasn't living the hardships these people were. I thought it was unfair that we didn't get out fair share of pay, but I was still eating every day and I had a roof over my head, and I went to school. These people didn't even get food.
I started spending a lot of time with Grandpa Crow, as I know call him. He's pretty cool, and incredibly smart. Apparently he read a lot of leadership and government books while holed up in that room, he talked to a lot of fake people, programed to make him not feel as lonely, and he actually learned a lot. I personally think it's incredible that he didn't go crazy. I know I would.
He's taught me even more about architecture, and especially about people. He taught me about music, culture, government, history, science, everything that we never learned in the Districts. I think we're starting to offer classes to everyone, and requiring everyone to take classes starting at the age of 5. I said that's to young, but Grandpa Crow, said it's important that we start young because when you're little brains soak things up like a sponge.
District 13 has now reached 100 levels of residential rooms. Over 10,000 people are here. It's crazy if you think about how many people roam around the halls. There are 3 cafeteria's apparently, and you are allowed to go to which ever one you want. I haven't been able to comprehend how many people there are in District 11, almost 5 times as many as there are in 12, and twice as many as there are in 4.
I sleep in my own room a lot, though I've fallen asleep in Ashton's room twice. Last time I went to Gale's cell, Katniss was there, and I had to come back an hour later. Finnick has begun to make knot art, and it's a huge hit I guess. He takes rope that he finds downstairs and he makes art with it, people are painting it, and hanging it up in their rooms, it gives Finnick something to do in between Propo's which Beetee and Wiress have been slaving over day and night to put on Capitol T.V.
It's been getting harder to put Propo's on, because the Capitol has been cracking down us, and even though the glass dome is barely 3 glass panels high, we might have to stop the project since any month now the capitol will locate us.
Johanna got a job as a Capitol communicator. Every time someone calls District 13, with a compromise, Johanna will ask them about Birch, and if they don't answer her, she starts ranting about how stupid the capitol is, it's incredibly interesting.
I like district 13, it isn't as gray as it was before, or as quiet.